Clint Eastwood said on Friday that the aim of his widely publicized speech to the Republican National Convention was to urge Americans to stop idolizing politicians - of any party.

Speaking at a news conference promoting his upcoming movie drama "Trouble with the Curve," the Oscar-winning actor and director said Americans should look at the records of politicians and make their own judgments.

"My only message was that I just want people to take the idolizing factor out of every contestant out there and just look at the work, look at the background and make a judgment on that," he told reporters who asked him to reflect on the rambling 'empty chair' speech last month.

The August 30 speech puzzled observers and quickly become the brunt of jokes.

"I was just trying to say that, and I did it in kind of a roundabout way which took up a lot more time I suppose than they would have liked," the "Dirty Harry" star said.